Discussing death of Obama's grandmother, Savage continued to promote discredited birth-certificate rumors

While discussing the death of Sen. Barack Obama's grandmother, Michael Savage again revived widely debunked "rumors" about Obama's "birth certificate not being valid."

During the November 3 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage again revived discredited "rumors" about Sen. Barack Obama's "birth certificate not being valid" -- this time while discussing the recent death of Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham. Savage stated: "And, oh yes, our condolences to his grandmother who raised him, who he so bravely visited last week -- shockingly, out of nowhere, in the, in the last days of a campaign -- while the rumors of his birth certificate not being valid were circulating throughout the Internet. Shockingly, Obama goes to Hawaii, and again, not one of the empty skirts in the media asks him about his birth -- his birth certificate, the Kenyan relatives. Not one of the empty skirts in the media raises the question. And today she dies, poor lady dies, poor lady dies today; the woman who raised him -- the white grandmother who raised him."

As Media Matters for Americadocumented, on October 22, Savage joined other conservative commentators in suggesting that the true purpose of Obama's October 25 trip to Hawaii was not to visit his ailing grandmother, as Obama stated, but rather to address charges -- widely debunked -- that Obama has failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate. As Media Mattersnoted, well before Savage invoked the discredited birth certificate rumors, the Obama campaign posted a copy of Obama's birth certificate on its Fight the Smears website and reportedly provided the original document to FactCheck.org, whose staff concluded in an August 21 post that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship." Even the right-wing website WorldNetDaily reported in an August 23 article that a "WND investigation into Obama's birth certificate utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic."

A Hawaii Health Department official also reportedly confirmed to PolitiFact.com in June that Obama's birth certificate is valid. However, following numerous references to the birth certificate rumors by conservative media figures such as Obama Nation author Jerome Corsi -- who said he was traveling to Hawaii to do some "digging" on the issue and requested a copy of Obama's original birth certificate -- the Hawaii Department of Health released the following statement on October 31 by Health Department director Chiyome Fukino:

"There have been numerous requests for Sen. Barack Hussein Obama's official birth certificate. State law (Hawai'i Revised Statutes §338-18) prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record.

"Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawai'i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawai'i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama's original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.

"No state official, including Governor Linda Lingle, has ever instructed that this vital record be handled in a manner different from any other vital record in the possession of the State of Hawai'i."

Talk Radio Network, which syndicates Savage's show, claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations. The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.

From the November 3 broadcast of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: And, oh yes, our condolences to his grandmother who raised him, who he so bravely visited last week -- shockingly, out of nowhere, in the, in the last days of a campaign -- while the rumors of his birth certificate not being valid were circulating throughout the Internet. Shockingly, Obama goes to Hawaii, and again, not one of the empty skirts in the media asks him about his birth -- his birth certificate, the Kenyan relatives. Not one of the empty skirts in the media raises the question. And today she dies, poor lady dies, poor lady dies today; the woman who raised him -- the white grandmother who raised him.

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